•2 quarts apple juice
•1 pound brown sugar
•½ cup non iodized salt
•3 quarts cold water
•4 oranges, quartered
•4 ounces fresh ginger, un-peeled and thinly sliced
•A dozen whole cloves
•6 bay leaves
•6 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed



Place the water, sugar and salt in a pan and heat until thoroughly dissolved and then allow to cool.

Pour the brine solution into your brining container and add the remainder of the ingredients (squeezing the orange quarters to release the juice before throwing them in) and stir.


Weigh down the turkey and brine overnight.

Got them both copied, nothing like having choices. I like spice. Thanks. CF

Enjoy! I hope you like them

I put my 16 pound turkey for this Sunday supper in its brine today. I used a mix of salt, brown sugar, garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, star anise, cinnamon stick, all spice berries, black peppercorns, parsley, sage and about 5 oranges. I found some rosemary, thyme, sage and parsley in the garden this morning that had not frozen out yet. The oranges were in a mark down buggy at the store because they were past their expiration but perfectly fine for a brine and only .50 I sliced and froze the other half of the bag of oranges to use in the brine for my brother's turkey next week. He likes his done in an apple / orange juice based brine. I honestly don't think a brine adds flavor but they do make the turkey more moist than if it is not brined. Jon wants the turkey Asian style so I am gonna brine for 24-36 hours and then marinade in the Asian flavors for a couple of days. I thought they heavy orange flavor in the brine might work well with the soy sauce based marinade.

This is the Asian marinade I am planning to use on the bird. I will probably double the recipe.

Chinese Roasted Turkey:

INGREDIENTS:
1 16 pound (about 7.5 kg) turkey
Marinade:
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
4 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
6 - 8 garlic cloves, crushed
PREPARATION:
Mix the marinade ingredients and rub over the turkey. Do not stuff. Place in the oven with a tray filled with water underneath. Cook at 375 degrees F. for approximately 3 hours or according to directions